


You'll Never be Lonely (know this at least)

by Sakura_no_Umi



Series: The Sound of Silence [2]
Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Deaf AU, Deaf Yoh, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Osorezan Revoir Arc, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26184103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakura_no_Umi/pseuds/Sakura_no_Umi
Summary: Winter break was for relaxing until his grandpa told Yoh he had to go to Aomori to met his future wife. No ten year old wanted to think about things like that. But after the course of the three day adventure he realizes they will never be lonely again as long as they're together.
Relationships: Asakura Yoh & Kyouyama Anna
Series: The Sound of Silence [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1900174
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	You'll Never be Lonely (know this at least)

**Author's Note:**

> The Osorezan arc events play out a little bit differently here. Overall same feeling, but it is not a 1:1 of the manga. And of course if an event is skipped/glossed over it played out pretty much exactly like the manga.

A few more years passed, and Yoh was ten. He was looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas break were he could ignore all his problems. He wanted to spend his days with Soul Bob the only person who truly got him, but instead his grandpa ambushed him and told him he was going to Aomori to visit his grandmother. That wouldn't have been to bad because he hadn't seen his grandma in ages and he could easily sneak past her and listen to Soul Bob all day anyway. The problem was that Grandpa said he was going to meet his fiancée.

When he asked Teori what the word fiancée meant she said it was the person he was going to marry. When he stared at her harder she said it was like having a girlfriend. That Yoh understood perfectly and he blanched at the idea. Didn't Grandpa understand that girls had cooties? Besides he was way too young for this. He was in elementary school. Didn't his grandpa understand anything?

When he tried to tell his mom that there was no way he was going to have a girlfriend, she just brushed him off and said to think of her like a friend. Wasn't he always saying how he wanted a friend at school?

That was how Yoh found himself boarded up onto a train bound for Aomori with Teori, and a new spirit Matamune. He was told Matamune has always being a family spirit, but Yoh has never met him before. He would have been leery, but Matamune got Ponchi and Conchi to wear diapers in fifteen seconds flat so someone like that can't be all bad right?

They made small talk during the train ride. Yoh realized that Matamune had a way of talking that marked him as an old spirit. He watched Teori debate between finger spelling and substituting different words for what the spirit said. It made reading the spirit's lips a little harder too because he didn't always know what to expect, but Yoh didn't mind. Something about the spirit was familiar and comforting. It was like chatting with an old friend, not that Yoh would really know what that was like. Matamune also spent part of the trip trying to get Yoh to warm up to the idea of having a girlfriend. Yoh would like to think he wasn't successful in the least.

They reached the station in Aomori, and no one was there to greet them. Yoh crinkled his nose. He had hoped his grandmother at least would have come to great him, but maybe she was just as nervous as he had been those few years ago. Matamune didn't seem ruffled in the least at their lack of greeting and proceeded to lead Yoh through the snow to his grandmother's inn.

“Don't tell Grandma that we're here,” Yoh stopped Matamune outside the door. “Let me do it.”

Matamune only turned his head quizzically and responded with, “Of course.”

With a deep breath he slid the door open. He was going to put all his and Grandma's fears to rest with these simple words. “Grandma we're here,” he called, toeing off his shoes at the entry and slipping into the slippers set out for him.

With that same intuition she always had when Yoh thought he was getting away with something, his grandmother was already standing in the hallway. He would have sworn she was looking straight at him taking in his appearance if not for the fact that she shouldn't be able too. He couldn't decide if it was just her scary perception or if Matamune had given them away much earlier, but it didn't matter. His grandmother was smiling at him and welcoming him in as if nothing had changed.

“Welcome, dear, you've grown taller haven't you?”

Yoh balked for a moment before pulling himself back together. “Grandma, I was six. Now I'm ten. Of course I'm taller.”

“Good. I'd hate for you to be cursed with mine or Yohmei's height.”

Yoh's eyes grew wide. He wished Matamune knew sign so he could ask him if his grandparents were always that short. Surely not. They had to have been tall like his mom at some point. His grandma would kill him though if he asked it out loud, and he didn't trust her not to have eyes and ears on everything.

“Anna's gone out to run errands. Why she couldn't have done them earlier I don't know.”

“That's alright, Grandma, I'll go look around town. Maybe help her with the errands if I run into her.”

“You're growing into a perfect gentleman. Matamune and I need to catch up. Send that spirit of yours if you run into trouble.”

“I won't run into trouble, Grandma,” Yoh replied, with an eye roll.

“Osorezan is home to many restless spirits. They typically leave the town alone, but don't get cocky that nothing bad can happen.”

“I'll be careful, Grandma,” Yoh called, already switching his slippers back for his shoes.

Yoh backtracked to the section of shops he and Matamune had passed on the way to his grandmother's. He needed to get souvenirs for everyone back home, and now was as good a time as any. If he was going to be forced to spend all his time with Anna while he was here, he didn't really want to go souvenir shopping with her. That would be like a date, and that would be gross. He was too young for this.

He opened the door to the shop and began to look around. Tamao would be easy. He'd get her a cute stuffed animal. His mother and grandfather would take more thought because they've been to Aomori plenty of times, but it would be rude not to get them anything. Then his eyes landed on the only thing Ponchi and Conchi would want.

It was short lived because before he knew it Teori was frantically waving in his direction, and a blonde haired girl was utterly seething in front of him. Yoh's eyes darted between Teori and the girl unsure what was happening before a hand came out and smacked him across the cheek.

“God you're so loud and gross,” the girl declared.

Yoh narrowed his eyes in confusion as his hand went towards his lips. He hadn't been speaking had he? He was sure he hadn't. Why would he have been in the first place. He flicked his eyes to Teori who confirmed he hadn't said anything for the girl to hear.

“Of course you didn't say anything,” she fumed, “What are you, deaf?”

“Yes,” he replied, “but if I didn't say anything how did you know what I thought?”

The girl froze and took a step back. “Never mind,” she mumbled turning on her heel and beating a hasty retreat for the door.

“You have to pay for those candles,” someone else called in the store.

Yoh threw some yen down on the counter before chasing her out of the store with a quick “I hope this covers it, sir”

“Hey wait,” Yoh called, exiting the store and running right into a fist that materialized out of nowhere. Looking up he came face to face with an oni. He'd never dealt with onis before, but he had enough training to recognize them on sight.

“I'm not mad,” he hollered, when the wind returned to his lungs and his feet touched back down on the ground.

“I'm sorry, just leave me alone.”

He would have swore the girl was pleading with him if not for the complete lack of emotion in her voice and eyes. She didn't seem human, but Yoh knew that wasn't true. It had seen that same emptiness in the mirror staring back at him. When his world first went silent, and he thought he could never talk to anyone again.

“Leave before you get hurt. I can't control it,” she called, likely somehow seeing inside him once again.

True to her word the oni was already attacking him again. He wasted no time jumping back and calling forth the shikigami. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he had to stop it. If it had winded him with a punch it was quite possible it was tangible enough to destroy the nearby surroundings.

And as if god was watching from above and wanting to prove a point, the arm of the oni shattered the glass of the store. The store owner appeared in no time, sword drawn ready to take down an invisible beast. Yoh was at a lost. He'd never had to protect bystanders while using his powers. Heck he'd never dealt with a maleficent spirit yet.

Before he could worry too much, Matamune appeared and diffused the situation. He wasn't sure how the spirit knew to come here as he hadn't seen Teori disappear at all. Maybe Matamune had had a suspicion. He'd watched the way him and Grandma traded glances, and the girl seemed to know this would happen.

Before he knew it, the oni was gone and so was the girl. The store owner was baffled, but had already resigned himself to sweeping up the broken glass, muttering about spirits and Osorezan being angry. He wanted to stay and talk to the shop owner, but Matamune was already gently leading him back to the inn.

“I have to go find that mysterious girl,” Yoh insisted, eyes scanning for a glimpse of her red jacket or blond hair.

“Don't worry, she'll come back to the inn. Best to give her her space for now,” Matamune answered.

“Huh?” Yoh crinkled his nose.

“That was, Anna.”

“She's the person Grandpa and Grandma decided would be my girlfriend,” Yoh moaned, “But she hates me. At least I think she does.”

“First meetings are always hard,” Matamune agreed, “but I think you two will grow on each other. You have a lot more in common than you might think.”

Yoh paused in the middle of the street. “I've seen her eyes before.”

“Oh?” Matamune cocked his head.

“Staring back at me in the mirror... when... when this happened,” Yoh finished, placing his hands over his ears.

“Then I think you understand better than anyone what her heart needs.”

“Yeah. She doesn't want to feel lonely, like she's shut out from the rest of the world.” Yoh paused. “Matamune do you think it's possible she can read minds? I've never heard of anyone able to do it, but nothing else that happened makes sense unless she can.”

“That's very intuitive of you, Yoh. Yes, there are the rare few that can read minds. Sometimes it comes from an outside source, but she is one of the even rarer few who manifested the talent naturally.”

“How?”

“When one is so lonely, unable to connect with others it can appear. It provides a window into the heart and mind. There's no more wondering if you are disliked and hated. Everything we keep locked away from others is available to them, with no way to turn it off. However instead of alleviating their fears and concerns it only marks them even further as different. It exacerbates the negative emotions that already plague them.”

“That sounds terrible,”

“It is,” Matamune agreed, “and when it becomes too much it manifests itself outside the body. That's what the oni was a result of.”

“Wow she must hate me a lot. I've never been punched that hard by a spirit.”

Matamune chuckled, “I don't think all those feelings of despair and resentment were aimed at you.”

“That's alright. I'm strong. I can take it. I'll take all of it if that's what it will take to make her happy again. I don't like seeing her eyes like that. I didn't like feeling like that.”

Matamune smiled, “I think she will be very grateful. Never lose that kindness, Yoh. It will always serve you well.”

Yoh blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

“For I do not believe she will be the last person you meet with the power, nor the last person who will need saving regardless of if they possess the power of reishi.”

“Reishi?” Yoh questioned.

“That is the name of the power Anna posses.”

“Well I'm going to save everyone who has reishi,” Yoh declared.

“A very admirable goal,” Matamune smiled, “and one that I think you will be able to succeed in.”

“Matamune, where you close to someone with reishi?

The spirit paused for a moment as if contemplating his answer. “My master was haunted by the ability.”

“An Asakura?” Yoh asked, pausing outside the entrance to the inn.

“The Asakuras were founded over a thousand years ago, and I have served them almost since it's inception. When my mortal body passed, my master granted me this power so that I may remain on this earth.”

“You're more that just a spirit. That's why you have mass,” Yoh breathed. “Matamune, do you miss him?”

“Every day,” the spirit answered.

“Why don't you go join him in the great spirit?” Yoh asked. “Or have Grandma call him here?”

Matamune didn't answer, instead sliding the door to the inn open signaling the end of their discussion. Yoh followed him wordlessly inside. This felt like another secret Yoh wasn't allowed to know. Was this related to whatever dumb mission his father had given himself in order to “protect” him. Why curse Matamune to remain on earth after he had passed anyway? Why not have allowed Matamune to go to the great spirits with him when his time came?

Maybe it would have been different if Matamune had stayed close always looking after and guiding the next generation of Asakuras, but Matamune was a free spirit. This was the first time Yoh had ever met him, and sometimes Yoh could catch a fleeting look of loneliness in Matamune's eyes.

Maybe if Yoh could get rid of reishi from the world than maybe Matamune could finally find happiness and rest with his master.

* * *

Anna came home latter dropping the bag of candles on the main room's floor and retreating to her room. His grandmother tried to tell Yoh to leave her alone when Anna was like this, but he couldn't. Everyone left him alone and it didn't help either. He had to try something, and if it didn't work well it would have been no different than if he hadn't tried.

He quieted his mind, not wanting to give anything away.

“Are you okay?” he called through the door, “the oni's didn't hurt you did they?”

Anna didn't answer right away and Yoh slowly slid down to the floor prepared to wait outside her door, mind quiet. His grandfather would be so proud of his sudden interest in meditation.

“You don't have to worry about me,” Teori signed, facial features indicating it had been yelled.

He had opened his mouth ready to tell her she was wrong. That he would worry about her because he wanted to be her friend and not because of anything his grandparents or mom had decided, but he stopped before the thought could even form. Anna was speaking softly, and probably didn't know about Teori telling him everything she said. She probably thought she was saying it in secret because he couldn't hear, but he watched Teori's hands intently.

“I'm sorry please don't hate me. If you stay with me you'll only be hurt. There are other people who can be your wife, who won't hurt you. I don't deserve your kindness. So just forget about me. You'll be happier just like everyone else.”

'It's okay, I'm strong. The onis don't scare me. I want you to be happy, because being sad and alone is no fun,' Yoh responded in his mind, back against the door.

He felt the vibration of something soft hitting the wall. He was right, she hadn't meant for him to hear that, but that's just how they were. She could see his heart and mind, so he deserved his own little superpower in the form of Teori and his broken ears.

“What would you know about being alone?”

Yoh opened his mind to her and told her of when he had gotten sick. Waking up from the daze of his serious illness and the long stay in the hospital, and realizing he couldn't hear his mom as she talked to him. He told Anna how scared and lonely his was afraid he'd never be able to talk to his mom again. How, even though he couldn't hear Soul Bob anymore, it was the only source of comfort and normalcy in a life he couldn't go back too.

He told Anna about a dad who didn't want him. A dad he never met. A dad who found another kid to be a dad too because she had no one just like Anna.

He told her he wanted to be Shaman King so no one would have to be lonely anymore. Being a kid was hard enough, but it was even harder to be a shaman.

They sat like that for at least an hour. Him talking to her from his thoughts, and her talking to him through his ghost.

They were both flawed, far from perfect, but maybe they both needed each other. Yoh hadn't liked the idea of his grandparents picking his girlfriend from the start, or even having one when he was ten, but if it was Anna then it wasn't so bad. Maybe for once the adults in his life knew what they were doing.

* * *

Anna was watching the New Year's performance of Ringo when Yoh walked into the room. He knew his grandma and Matamune had disappeared somewhere, otherwise Anna would have stayed shut away in her room.

Anna turned to look at him when he entered the room and shut the TV off guiltily.

“Turn it back on. I want to see Bob,” he stated, coming to sit down next to her in front of the TV.

“You don't have to pretend to be nice and stare at the TV with me,” she huffed.

“No really, I want to watch Bob,” Yoh insisted.

Anna stared back at him blankly, refusing to turn the TV back on.

With a sigh he reached for the power button on the TV.

“I don't mind. Sure I can't hear Bob like you do now, but Bob is the one thing I still remember the sounds of. Just seeing him is enough. He's like home for me. I'm sure Ringo is good too, but I never listened to her before all of this, but if you like her I'm sure she can't be bad at all.”

“Is that why you wear those dumb headphones?”

“No, I've always worn them. They were my dad's. Back then I used to think if I wore them I'd be closer to him, or he'd come home sooner.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes letting the sound of Ringo fill the room.

“I guess you're right though. Now I do wear them because they make me feel safe. Even though they aren't connected to the record player it always feels like Bob is right there. Plus if I put them over my ears a lot of people ignore me because they think I'm listening to music anyway.”

“People are stupid.”

“Yeah, they are,” Yoh agreed.

After that they stopped talking, and sat in silence watching the performances. At some point his grandmother and Matamune returned, before quickly disappearing to the onsen. Yoh only knew this because Teori told him. He was glad they didn't say anything. Sitting with Anna was nice, and he'd hate to have to sit outside her room again just to feel close to her.

“We should go offer our prayers at the shrine for New Years,” Yoh declared.

“Are you crazy?” she hissed.

“We can pray for the gods to take your reishi away, and even if they can't well I'll be Shaman King in a few years and I'll do it myself.”

“We can't. Everyone in town is at the shrine.”

“If an oni comes I'll take care of it, and if I can't well we'll both run away and leave it to Matamune. Besides these will protect you,” Yoh stated, slipping his headphones off his head and placing them over her ears.

Anna's face burned red, and in a motion faster than Yoh's eyes could track she reached out and slapped his check.

“Don't touch me,” she hissed, eyes hard before softening in horror.

“It's fine I deserved that,” Yoh replied. “just think about it okay?” he asked, brushing off his pants as he stood up and left the room.

* * *

“I want to go,” Anna stated, meeting him in the entry way.

Yoh smiled noting she had left his headphones snugly over her ears.

“I promise I'll protect you.”

* * *

“Matamune, Matamune,” Yoh called, as the spirit appeared before him and Anna, vanquishing the oni Yoh couldn't defeat, “I messed up.”

“You kids shouldn't have to live in fear of leaving the house,” Matamune answered, watching as more and more onis continued to appear. “Besides this may be the first step in accomplishing your goal.”

“But I'm hurting her,” Yoh answered, holding Anna close as she continued to scream from all the unwanted thoughts pouring into her.

“Sometimes we must be hurt first before we can heal. We'll all make it through this. I promise you.”

* * *

Except they didn't all make it through it. When the fight was won, Matamune was gone. Only a bear claw necklace lay in the snow marking where the spirit had stood last. Yoh grasped the necklace tightly in his hand as he made one last promise to the spirit.

_I'll see you again, Matamune. When all the reishi is gone I'll ask you to leave you masters side if only for a moment so I can tell you I did it._

He slipped the necklace over his head, and wiped the tears from his eyes before turning back to Anna's exhausted form.

“Let me help you,” he said, turning around so he could give her a piggy back ride.

“Tell anyone about this and die,” she responded, looping her arms around his neck.

“This whole trip can be out secret,” he agreed, as he started to walk back to the shopkeepers truck that had brought him and Matamune to where the Oh-oni had taken Anna.

“Thank you, Yoh,” she whispered into the side of his neck, “I think my mind has finally quieted.”

Yoh watched as Teori relayed Anna's words, but he pretended never to see them. Anna would tell him face to face when she was ready, and he would wait. He could wait as long as he needed now that he knew she would no longer be lonely.

Yoh smiled. He would never be lonely either. They would always have each other bound by the events of his trip. They had each made their first friend, even if maybe Anna didn't want to admit that. He only wished they didn't have to part ways in the morning, but Anna needed to continue her training, and he had to return to his somewhat lonely and boring life in Izumo. However, they would met again. They were going to get married and spend the rest of their life together. Three days ago it sounded terrible. Three days ago girls were gross and had cooties. Now though, now Yoh never wanted to leave her side. She understood him, and he her.


End file.
